here we go :o)

Some of you probably already know where I am coming from.
This is the short version:
my human mom and dad "received" a litter of 4 pups and a mum dog for fostering. We were weeeee pups, eyes and ears still closed, little wormlings..
Mum, who mom and dad called Jetta, was really confused about being in the new home, which is my new home now. Do I make sense?
Well, however.. fact is, we moved in to the home of Jolanda and Josephine. They liked the idea of having a family live with them. That was nice. How welcoming they were. Mum Jetta really likes the two ladies and copied pretty much everything they do and don't do ;o)
In the mean time we, which is Jerome, Juno, Ben and me, Chief, grew up without worries and grief. We had the most fun every single day. Our humans did all they could do to make our lives happy and easy.
Well, not that easy, because we had to go to school, too.. Potty training for instance, which we mastered by the age of 10 weeks. More about that later.........
Mom got us used to pretty much everything she could think of. Cats, dogs, kids, people, all sorts of kitchen stuff, machines, bikes, being alone for a period of time, down time, what have you.
All was fine in paradise.
mom, the human mom, really enjoyed being around us.
She had an eye on Jerome and me from the start. She said we would make real neat little Service Dogs - oh my.
I think it's a cool thing to be called a SD. Jolanda told me a whole lot about it. Our mom, Jetta, is timid and insecure about certain things, so mom had to settle her in another room, which Jetta mom did nicely, and then work with us. We are not timid, we are curious and bold :o) Probably like our dad..
Jetta learned her stuff and we learned ours.
But then all of a sudden on our 10 week birthday, we were pulled away from our family and locked up in two kennels in the shelter!! Those shelter people said something about good evaluation and adoptable. Whut the f*? Mom was absolutely devastated. If you know mom, you know how upset she was....... What a drama!
A day after we were locked up, people came to adopt us. But then we had to wait again, cause they wanted to fix us. We were only 10 weeks! How insane is that?
However, mom cried 24/7 about the fact that we were in the shelter. What a useless and non beneficial act.. All the house training, all the hard work - what now?
Juno took it really hard and me, too. We are not made for shelter life. It is stressful, all these dogs screaming and whining and scared and upset. Well, we told mom that we would hang in. Mom kind of moved in the shelter and kept up our routine. She practice fun things with us, but mainly went on long walks outside, so we could breathe....
Dad was there, too. A lot. They sat in the kennels with us for hours and cuddled and sang songs, we watched movies together and curled up on their laps.
They always came to regular times, so we never had to worry that they might forget about us. They never did.
I was stressed there. Juno was, too. Jerome and Ben kind made the best of it. Til the end, we never barked at people, we did not cry when left behind and we only pooped in one corner of the kennel. The kennel man was impressed about that.
Then on Wednesday, mom and a man came to take Jerome and me home.
We both spend lots of time at mom's house, cause we are now officially in training :o)
Jerome will work for his mom later on and I will work for mom. Cross your paws that all will work out. In case it doesn't, Jerome will still be an Emotional Support Animal and I will be Chief, the Chief. We are all positive, though and believe all will be ok.
Today, finally, Ben and Juno went home, too. All is good now, no more grief and worries. Juno will live with a young woman and another dog, who is more confident and outgoing than she is, which is great. Ben will live with a British couple and travel a lot. He is a jet setter and will probably be happy about all the new things he will get to see :o)
Well, we will travel a lot, too, mom said. Both, Jerome and I. For me it will most likely be overseas, and for Jerome within the US.
We will still see each other, cause he lives close by :o)
Ok, enough now with the past.

Yesterday we kind of had a day off, cause we came home from the shelter.. Well........ our day off was all about running and going nuts! I had the zoomies for a good hour! Jerome the bouncies :o)
Then we ate shoes and towels and did lots of playing with each other.
Later, once all was better and calm, Jerome's mom came to visit. Jerome was happy to see her. She brought a friend, too :o)
Mom explained to me that he will be living in a community house, with lots of different people. Mom will help him ease into this lifestyle by having everyone come over frequently to introduce themselves to him. So far, so good. In a few days he will spend parts of his days in his new house and then more and more, until he settles in completely. In the mean time mom and dad work with both of us.
Today we practiced lots of come, find mom, coming in the midst of playing, heeling, up and off, sits and stays, gentle and watch me and leave it. Mom says we do fabulous! Well, the rewards are pretty cool. We get to eat kibbles :o)
Also mom has this toy, which dispenses kibble. That is a fun thing.. I figured it out and Jerome eats whatever falls out *sigh*
We love to do agility. Really.. especially Jerome. He is an ace.
I am more into the doggie dancing. The weaves and the backwards and forwards and stuff.
Well, Jerome is one of those A+ students anyways. I am more the B kind of guy - parties are cool, too, right?
Then we went on a walk to the farmer's market in town. We did not jump right in, just circled it and met a few nice people. One was Jerome's mom and her roommate and the child, which lives in the house once in a while. Jerome was very gentle. He learned fast. The child was very gentle, too!
I did not really show interest, just hung out on mom's arm and watched life go by *sigh* I am the laid back kind of guy. Nothing really strikes me ;o)
The walk was the most exciting we have done so far.
Tomorrow we will go on a walk with dad and mom and the other dogs! How cool is that? Well, the humans walk and we are being carried ;o)
Mom says that tomorrow we will start the leash walk. We are fine with the harnesses and the leashes. Mom had started with them a little bit ago. At first I would roll around in it, but then I realized that when I have the harness on, we go some place. That was fair and convincing ;o)

Now we got the evening off and romp in the house. Fun :o) We just took one of mom's shoes apart, but pssssss, don't tell :D
Ok, happy woofs - more to come

The day before yesterday, we had a really big fat thunderstorm. When we heard the boooom the first time, we startled, but recovered quickly. Mom made a fun game out of the thunders. We ended up not minding the storm, but instead went to sleep. The house got shaken a few times, but since Jolanda was watching over us and really calmly hanging out next to us, we were as calm. Mom says that this is really good. Mom Jetta was on the armchair, snoring like nothing happened. Mom is glad that we all did not mind.

Yesterday morning, when mom took a shower, I really wanted to be with her. I stood on the rim of the bathtub (Jetta mom does that, too), so she picked me up, held me while she showered - no kidding! I fell asleep on mom's arm. Well, I was soaking wet, because I took a shower with mom, but that was fine. Mom dried me off and picked up Jerome. He liked it, too! Not actually taking a shower, but hanging out on mom's arms when the water watered her back.
I think I like this morning ritual :o)

Then later that day, we went to the park to learn about leash "walking"! Mom and dad put Jerome and me on the lawn and let us roam around on leash. We thought it was really awesome. Jetta, our real mom had the zoomies and made us zoom with her. That was awesome. The humans had a hard time to follow us while we were running around :o) We run like rabbits, kind of like zig zaggy with quick turns..
I think we spent a good hour playing and running around on leash. Jerome this Mr A student did all the things he already learned inside, outside, too! Well, I did it in spirit. The world was way to exciting to do anything that even resembled obedience.....

After the walk Jetta went to the shelter with the humans for another evaluation by a rescue organization:

http://www.gratefuldogsrescue.org

They did the eval on a walk and mom Jetta shined! They love her and accepted her into the program, which is super.. Now mom Jetta needs not to worry. We will all find a good him for her. One that's a little quieter and more Jetta focused.

Wen the humans got back, Jerome's mom came to visit. That was fun.
You know that my brother Jerome is at our house right now, right?
He and I are learning things together and have loads of fun.. Well, in reality it's puppy day camp with training and fun :o)
His new mom comes to visit every day and today she will take Jerome home for an entire day *yippee*. Mom and Jerome's mom introduce Jerome to his new community house slowly. We think it will be fine.
We will see :o)
Therefor I will have a full Jeromeless day.
happy woofs from me to you

Mom Jetta went to an adoption event on Sunday. She did very well and did lots of off leash obedience stuff inbetween people and bikes and dogs. Mom said that Jetta was a star. We even got applications for her. For some reason they haven't gotten back to the rescue organization after filing their interest. Mh.. Hope they will.
She really wants her own home..

Jerome and I do lots of going places, meeting up with humans and learning about all sorts of stuff.
For instance playgrounds, which is one of our favorite places. It has children, who we love and moms and dads to say hi to.
We also spent time at the pool and listened to the music they had on for the aquarobic. That was fun. All those nice people.

We did crate training, too! Not a big deal.. The crate takes us fun places and we chose to sleep in it as our bed - therefor it's a nice box.

Then yesterday we went to visit the soccer kids. Mom let us run around with them during practice. They all had a fantastic time and enjoyed helping us get used to stuff. We got cuddled, kissed, we ran with the boys and the moms spoiled us with attention :o) Soccer practice is our new favorite. Mom says that she is very proud of us for being so happy and interested in all sorts of stuff..
No problem ;o)
Enjoy the photos!

Can you imagine? Mom said that it takes a village to raise a puppy!! No idea what she is talking about. I have been really good.. Well, ok, a little loss is always included, right?
I go to the beaches a lot, to small doggie meet and greets, I have been on two real hikes even!
I got a swim vest, so I can play around the lakes. Mom and dad were worried that I might drown! Well, I might ;o)
I look really nifty in this new vest :D
I am learning a whole lot of stuff, which I really enjoy.
Also we met up with one of my brothers at the beach last week! He will come visit me for a week very soon :o) That is neat... Jolanda told me that we will meet up with my sister and my brother very, very soon :o)
We took many photos, because mom was already worried that we might not have the time to sit for more than 5 min and write diary entries......
Smart move ;o)
Here they are!
Enjoy

I have been busy busy busy.. you know, we puppies and retired pups are always busy, in a hurry and got no time ;o)
As always mom took photos of the last week, which was bloody brilliant.
My brother Archer was here for an entire week! We had the bestest time ever.
There are more photos, which mom hasn't uploaded yet, but will add them to the Archer album soon :o)
Have a good time checking out the photos!

but then there is more....... mom and Jolanda and I have been practicing for the Service Dog work. I mean, my life is all play and fun, but the fun mom does with me has to do with that work actually. Hard to believe, cause I don't even realize it. I think she hides in the play and cuddle so I won't be suspicious. I love what we do and want to show you how cool life is:

the I forgot, have I told you about how I met my sister June the other week?
Boy, we had a really good time. She looks very pretty. Still scruffy, but beautiful. She has a fine life with a fine new adopted brother. Happy girl :o)

So sorry the link did not work last time I posted.....
I just put all the photos in another album and hope you can open it.
Have fun checking it out :o)
one day I will write a little more - promise. So busy right now.

Yesterday the mom and I went to visit the people at dogster!
They are funny and cuddled and kissed and goofed with me :o)
I truly enjoyed all the attention ♥
We wanted to meet up with our new friend Bonnie, who lives with Mocha's mom, now, but mom felt like crap, so went home *sigh*

We have been doing lots of trick fun, which I really, really like..!
We went through my repertoire, added a few new things, got into more detail with others, changed old ones, added distance, length, etc..
I like variety and so does mom.
She had to make a list of things we have been working on so far - it turned out to be quite long......
in random order:

2. touch
3. nudge (ball with nose or any other item to make it move)
4. leave it
5. open and get the pouch for the meds
6. push (opening doors)
7. close (doors or drawers)
8. gimmie (items into my hand)
9. dunk it (items into a bowl)
10. chest (resting in a "settle" on my chest for seizures)
11. calm (on my lap calmly and quietly)
12. button (bottom door buttons and other fun buttons to push)
13. knock it over (items, slamming doors, kicking legs.. with his front paws)
14. paw
15. high fife
16. pray
17. ledge (open ledges - baaaad idea)
18. bow
19. weaving (legs and poles and arms)
20. socks (undressing in general - socks is just an example)
21. check (looking into the direction I ask him to by putting my fingers to my ear as a cue for left and right)
22. interrupting/alerting to the lip smacking
23. interrupting biting my cuticles
24. making sure I take my meds, by following a certain routine, which includes "touch" my leg until I take the meds and turn off the phone alarm)
25. watch (me)
26. shame *new* putting his nose inbetween his front paws and look awfully miserable
27. hide *new* (hiding a small item under his front paws by holding it like a squirrel holds a nuts - freaking cute!)
28. hold (holding an item in his mouth until released - he frequently carries them when asked, now)
29. picking up items, such as the leash, keys, shoes, socks, ...... by name.
30. tail (holding his tail) *new*
31. dig (digging on command)
32. sniff his own butt (funny) *new*
33. lift leg on command and not peeing!
34. count (barking) *new*
35. over and under and around (dogs, chairs, fence,....)
36. up and down
37. ramp (going up and down ramps by himself)
38. teeter (-board)
39. such (search items and Hendrik)
40. find exit, restroom, quiet spot
41. get the ball (hand retrieve)
42. on my back (jumps on my back)
43. crossing front legs
44. .................

wow* that's a lot! I am really great at most of them and flaky at others. But altogether I am doing really well, mom says.....
Great I got the list now or else mom would forget ;)

Today we had to go see the Dr for Jojo's new leg. I was a moron, whatever that is. Mom called me that. I just thought it was awesome, barking and pulling Jojo's and Jolanda's leash while we were waiting, making a fuzz, etc. It was fun. Mom looked at me with this "Iamgoingtokillyou" look, but of course, I get away with murder - so I thought. Mom let things be, cause she was busy with Jojo.
But then, oh boy......
Ever since this morning, my walks are super lame and really tiring. I have to do stuff on the way and work obedience things and heel and don't get to do what I want. I am off and on and off and on leash, sit here, watch me there, down, stays........ mom makes me work. She said she was a little "lax" with me. Whatever that it. It was better than the opposite ;o)
Later today we went to the dog store! We got our jingle bells :o)
Unfortunately they had no Hanukkah collars, which is awful, but the red and white ones are nice, too..
Happy holidays everyone!
Other than that we are all well.

Yesterday my brother Archer and I went to the beach with our moms. It was awesome. I think we ended up playing for like 20 hours with each other and with other dogs. The weather was perfect..!
When we got back home, we went on the old ladies' hike on the trail. Jojo did not have the brace on, because it did not fit properly. The wedge under her foot was too high. Mom did not want to hurt Jojo by putting it on.
In the evening dad came home for a few hours to take us to the symphony! It was great. I even got to scoot across the carpet *yay* and "accidentally" nibble a teddy bear under the teddy bear tree ;o) Just one nibble and my lame mom goes "no! don't do that". So I didn't.
Symphony was great, all three of us fell asleep ;o)

This morning, mom and dad sat down and adjusted the shoe, by shaving a chunk off the bottom of the foot. Now it's absolutely perfect!
We put it on her this morning and she walked like she never did before. Apparently it takes the pressure off the leg and supports it really, really well. What a great brace!
We hung out at our cafe, had lunch, walked around with the ladies and met our pal, Bonnie and her mom. I decided to take everyone to our pet store. We got loads of treats and love. Dad bought Bonnie a jingle collar, too and she does not mind it :o)
In the afternoon we drove back home, where we took a break. Mom had to do a few things. But at some point we did our daily "workout". I can now dunk three items after another by name. They are all on the floor at the same time, mom names them, I get them and put them in a bowl. That was a tough chore to learn, but I think I will be able to do it with even more items, soon. Mom said we should shoot for 20 different ones by name. That would be cool!
We practiced opening the door and getting the pouch, crossing legs, biting tail, shame..... it was fun - as always.
Once we were done, we went on a short walk with the ladies and got in the car to go visit dad at work to have dinner with him.. He is hardly home, due to his experiments. It's kind of sad, because our Hanukkah is lame, we still have no menorah - ours broke before last year's Hanukkah. We don't even have candles. What a shame. But celebrating Hanukkah alone is no fun either :*(
Instead mom and I ended up at a church on campus to listen to the caroling. It was beautiful. Mom does not go to church - long story..
The nice guy, who makes sure all are happy during the event, took mom to a special room, right next to the actual inside of the church. It was a room for people, who want to listen, but not be inside. Perfect. I was really good, cause church is already for advanced puppies. I can be a dork, but this night I was perfect. There was another woman with her dog, who listened to the caroling. I was so very tempted, but could resist. He walked in the door, all of a sudden, with his mom. Mom gave me a very, very, very "yousayawordorgetupandIwillkillyou" look. I decided that it was a great idea to stay put on mom's foot and listen to the beautiful singing.
Right before the end we left. What a nice evening and this beautiful silence felt so good.
sending warm wishes and happy thoughts :o)